Known prior art torso and extremity protection designs for sporting activities; motorcycling, automobile racing, jet skiing, and mountain biking, for example, consist of hard plastic outer shells which are permanently affixed to single or multiple layers of closed/open cell foam impact dispersants. Heat bonding, rivets, adhesives, and sewing are the more popular methods involved in this assembly process. Although inexpensive as manufacturing techniques go, the aforementioned processes severely restricts the impact dispersant foams intrinsic ability to naturally expand and compress as intended when subjected to the forces of impact trauma. This inability to naturally expand and compress as designed, which assists in decelerating and dispersing the force of the impact, has the unintended consequence of concentrating the majority of impact energy at the initial impact point. This concentration of impact force, further reduces the effectiveness of the closed/open foams attempts at dispersing harmful impact energy away from the wearer's body, as intended. These known prior art protective offerings not only are assembled contrary to the laws of physics, but also result in finished products that are stiff, raise body temperature, and are uncomfortable to wear.
Another major flaw in known prior art protection designs, is their inability to allow for the replacement of individual protection pouch components when damaged, or, as newer technology components are developed. Consumers owning these known prior art protection offerings are forced to either continue using the defective/older design(s) or bear the major expense of purchasing brand new protector(s).
Additionally, the inability to enhance known prior art protection designs performance characteristics (by replacing or interchanging components) to adjust for adverse weather and other unknown event conditions hinders sports participants from attaining personal optimum levels of performance during exertion.